{"id":39772,"date":"2022-01-19T14:21:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T19:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=39772"},"modified":"2022-08-02T11:55:33","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T15:55:33","slug":"chanceton-lindseys-takes-a-little-time-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/chanceton-lindseys-takes-a-little-time-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Chanceton Lindsey takes a little ‘Time Off’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image Courtesy of Ramzy Alahmad\/Elevated Design<\/p><\/div>\n

What did you do to pass the time when the pandemic first hit two years ago, when the entire world seemed to shut down and people were forced to quarantine?<\/p>\n

Maybe you brought a puppy or kitten into your life. Perhaps you binge-watched one or two or 10 TV series.<\/p>\n

Or perhaps you, like Chanceton Lindsey, at the time a junior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, went above and beyond to break out of your comfort zone.<\/p>\n

A communication major with a focus in radio, TV and film, Lindsey spent his early pandemic time teaching himself to play different musical instruments by watching YouTube video tutorials.<\/p>\n

He watched as many movies as he could, figuring out post-production and different special effects.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, he mentally logged all of his pandemic achievements and turned his quarantine time into an idea for a screenwriting class.<\/p>\n

What began as Lindsey\u2019s capstone project evolved into a short film, \u201cTime Off,\u201d which was released on YouTube<\/a> and Vimeo<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime Off\u201d is a 26-minute, music-focused film that tells the story of the fictional Dean Hawkins, who had recently left his job due to COVID-19. He decided to spend his time off investing in and learning new musical instruments.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a communication senior, we were tasked with either doing an internship or a directed project,\u201d said Lindsey, who received a bachelor\u2019s degree from UTC in May 2021. \u201cI spoke to Professor (Angelique) Gibson, who was going to be my sponsor on either of them, and we talked about the idea of an internship. I told her I wouldn\u2019t be satisfied unless I was on a set somewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that I would hate myself if I graduated from college without having made a short film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking about a year from start to finish, Lindsey wrote the screenplay, was the lead actor and produced, directed and edited the final product. He initially presented his concept in a screenwriting class Gibson was teaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the end of that course, he said, \u2018Professor Gibson, I\u2019ve got an idea for a little short movie that I think I could do during quarantine. Can I send you a draft? Can we talk about it?\u2019\u201d Gibson recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in a quarantine period and there were so many things that could go wrong, but he was incredibly careful with how he ran his set, who he allowed in and how he was going to do safety, to where I said, \u2018OK, you\u2019ve got a good project.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to the pandemic, Gibson\u2019s advising was done virtually, so she couldn’t give him any hands-on instruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of things he had to teach himself,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were things we could barely cover with me teaching from a computer screen and not actually being over his shoulder in the lab saying, \u2018This is how you do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For instance, when the whole process began, Lindsey\u2014using equipment provided by the UTC Library Studio<\/a>\u2014didn\u2019t know how to operate a camera or record audio. Let alone how to write a screenplay.<\/p>\n

Lindsey took on the lead actor role to ensure there were no filming setbacks, saying there was a symbiotic relationship between his real-life pandemic persona and the movie\u2019s main character.<\/p>\n

He had never acted before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that if I ever needed to just film one shot or one scene, I didn\u2019t have to worry about calling my lead actor and making sure he or she could make it,\u201d he said. \u201cI could just sit down on my couch and set the camera up and accomplish it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsey admitted it was weird seeing himself on camera, calling it “cringeworthy” at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one point, I was able to kind of desensitize myself to it and understand that this is a character that I\u2019m looking at right now,\u201d he said. \u201cDisassociating myself from what I was editing is what kept me going through it and made it a lot easier to be OK with just letting myself out there and being ready to expose this type of footage to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the spring 2021 semester, Lindsey received an \u201cA\u201d for the capstone project. He could have taken the grade, graduated and moved on to his next chapter in life, but he wasn\u2019t satisfied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that it had a lot more potential that I wasn\u2019t able to fully exhibit with the capstone,\u201d Lindsey said. \u201cI knew what I had sent in to receive my credit was a fraction of what it could be, and I didn\u2019t want to let all of my hard work go to waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he went back to work, spending hundreds of hours to finish something \u201cwe could all be proud of and look back and say we did the best we could,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make something like Chance did takes a lot of dedication because he was pretty much a one-man band,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cWhen you are making movies, it\u2019s a marathon. It\u2019s not a sprint. So you really have to be very dedicated to getting something done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really creative endeavor. It\u2019s really good storytelling. Chance had a very good line for figuring out how to grab the audience and tell the story. He did an amazing job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsey recently submitted \u201cTime Off\u201d to the Chattanooga Film Festival and a Toronto-based festival for first-time student filmmakers. He hasn’t heard back from either one.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I really didn\u2019t have many ambitions for this short film. I saw it as more of just kind of an exercise in my video editing and writing skills,\u201d Lindsey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reception not only changed the way I felt about the movie but also myself as an artist. Maybe I do have a shot at this, and it\u2019s given me full motivation to just continue it and do my best. I know my next one is going to be better and the one after that is going to be even better.\u201d<\/p>\n